One of these men
was a thoroughbred Pampas Indian: he was kept much for the same
purpose as a bloodhound, to track out any person who might pass by
secretly, either on foot or horseback. Some years ago a passenger
endeavoured to escape detection by making a long circuit over a
neighbouring mountain; but this Indian, having by chance crossed
his track, followed it for the whole day over dry and very stony
hills, till at last he came on his prey hidden in a gully. We here
heard that the silvery clouds, which we had admired from the bright
region above, had poured down torrents of rain. The valley from
this point gradually opened, and the hills became mere water-worn
hillocks compared to the giants behind; it then expanded into a
gently sloping plain of shingle, covered with low trees and bushes.
This talus, although appearing narrow, must be nearly ten miles
wide before it blends into the apparently dead level Pampas. We
passed the only house in this neighbourhood, the Estancia of
Chaquaio: and at sunset we pulled up in the first snug corner, and
there bivouacked.
MARCH 25, 1835.
I was reminded of the Pampas of Buenos Ayres, by seeing the disk of
the rising sun intersected by an horizon level as that of the
ocean.
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